Located in the mountains of Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Eco Caminhos is a working permaculture farm and a reference project in the region for regenerative practices, education, and community living.
Our planet is facing growing environmental crises: climate change, extreme weather events, pollution, deforestation, and the depletion of natural resources. The world needs concrete, working examples of a different way of living — and we believe the answers already exist in how we grow food, build homes, and live together. That is what we practice here every day.
Since 2014, we have built a farm that is almost self-sufficient in energy and produces 60% of its own food, including vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, and meat. We have planted over 10,000 trees, developed 6 agroforestry systems with more than 260 plant species and 4,500 coffee trees, and built several bioconstruction structures using natural and local materials.
We are currently developing Ecolibrium, an ambitious project designed to become a regional permaculture learning center.
We work with native species, reforestation, water source recovery, soil management, natural building techniques such as cob and wattle-and-daub, and we are constantly improving our systems.
Living here means getting your hands dirty, sharing responsibilities, learning by doing, and being part of something meaningful.
We offer different programs depending on your interests, availability, and how long you can stay, from short immersive experiences to free long-term volunteering for those ready to commit and grow with us. We receive volunteers, students, researchers, families, and groups from all over the world, all year round.
If this resonates with you, we would love to hear from you.
Membership & Visitors
- Current members: 25
- Open to new members
- Open to visitors
We have different volunteer oportunities and programs, some short term and others long term.
Please visit our webpage to find out more and get in contact with us: www.ecocaminhos.com
Eco Caminhos is a great program! It teaches you about bio construction and permaculture, it gives you the opportunity to experience Brazil, a great country with many beautiful things to see, hear, taste and experience, and also puts you in contact with people from all over the world that come to volunteer here. The whole Eco Caminhos experience helps you get in contact with nature, with people, and most important with yourself. Being away from the city “jungle” and the hectic life it requires, you’ll be more able to clear your thoughts and you’ll have more time to connect with yourself and people and nature around you. Because of all these, experiencing Eco Caminhos it’s a must do if you’ll ask me 🙂
I had a very good experiance at Eco Caminhos. The staff is sensational. The group is the great strength of the project. Those responsible for the agroforestry taught me a lot about planting, and the people of the bioconstruction made me feel able to build a small house using bamboo or wood structure and the cob.
Olá o projeto dessa comunidade é meu sonho de vida ! Sou terapeuta holístic e desejo morar em um lugar assim .trabalhar, aprender ,com respeito e amor, a natureza e todos os seres. Poderiam me ajudar?tem casa pra alugar e ser voluntária tbm ?